A Modern Touch
by Noorha
Summary: A series of modern oneshots and drabbles that will focus mostly on Kel and Neal, but may have other characters popping up from time to time. They will most likely not be connected, other than the fact that they will all take place in the same general modern era. Ideas for new drabbles welcome! Rating upped to T because how can you have modern AU without college?
1. In Sickness

A/N: Okay so I wrote that little drabble the other day and then I read like a million and a half fics and this came to me. I'm not sure if this is going to be a simple oneshot or a series of unconnected oneshots that take place in modern times. I'm leaning towards a series, but we will just have to see what comes to mind! I also understand that Kel probably wouldn't be able to see a doctor related to her, but because I ended up making her sick with something simple I felt that being understaffed would probably allow this scenario to take place. I'm also not sure why Kel left the Navy, but I guess we'll have to figure that out next time.

I guess I should also explain my thinking for this series. It all started while watching JAG, and reading a K/N fanfic and it kind of just slapped me in the face. Kel would be a hotshot fighter pilot or a Navy Diver or something that is predominately male, but she joined the military so she might as well be the best and choose something a bit more difficult than average, so I saw her going to college and being in ROTC and commissioning into the Navy (Because the Navy is awesome). And Neal of course wanted to be a doctor, but after his oldest brother was killed in action he decided to join the Army or the Navy as a doctor because the Queenscoves have always served in the Military and he feels that it's his duty. It's me trying to translate their histories in the books into today. Translated from fiction to a plausible real life. And I don't know when they met or where but that's what I'm hoping to give glimpses of: Kel and Neal and modern life.

* * *

It was just her lucky day, Keladry "Kel" Mindelan thought sourly as she sat dejectedly in one of the three uncomfortable plastic chairs in the dingy waiting room of the base medical office. She'd been visiting her family for a couple of weeks and had caught something nasty from her youngest nephew, which resulted on her ending up here. Waiting. Again.

She hated this office with a passion. She hated it when she broke her ankle on a training jump four years ago, she hated it when she ended up here puking her guts out after a bad case of food poisoning the summer after she had left the Navy, and she hated it when she had come to get her routine physical exam three months ago. It wasn't the medical office exactly, more just the staff. Well, not the whole staff. Just one of the doctors.

She figured it was a good thing he wasn't the only doctor on staff, and she'd be able to see her normal doctor.

How wrong she was.

He daydreaming was cut short as her name was called by a black haired nurse standing in the door. She stood, taking her coat and purse with her, and returned the other woman's smile. She was patient and polite as she was weighed, poked and prodded for vitals and asked a long list of questions by the good natured blue eyed nurse who scribbled everything down. After a cheerful goodbye, the nurse left Kel alone to sit on the table, crinkly paper making obscene noise with her every fidget. She absently scratched at a red bump on her arm, staring at one of the posters on the wall with only mild interest.

A loud knock came from the door and it opened, a tall and lanky brown haired man stepping through with a wry grin. He shut the door behind him and turned to look at his patient.

"Kel." He greeted, green eyes dancing as he greeted the woman sitting awkwardly on the table.

Kel stared at him, "Neal, you're not supposed to-"Anything she was going to say was cut off by a casual wave of his hand as he read over the notes in her file. She growled mentally. She should have just gone into town, to the walk in clinic.

"Kally said she thinks it's something simple and it's just me and another doctor on duty right now. The other two were called out for surgery and as the greatest, smartest most _junior _doctor on duty today, my superior said I was fine to treat you. And to double check with him before I prescribe you anything." He smiled and looked up, eyes glinting as he set down his file and stepped forward, unwinding the stethoscope that hung around his neck.

She sat patiently, allowing him to listen to her breathing and check her ears and throat and generally do all the doctorish things he was trained to do, scribbling out his findings in her folder. All while droning on and on in that same exasperating way he always did about nothing in particular.

He glanced at a cluster of red spots on her wrist and then on her other arm, and his eyebrows went up.

"You never told me you hadn't had the chicken pox!" He said, holding back his laugh valiantly as he brushed her hair aside to view another couple spots on the back and sides of her neck. "That makes my job easy cause there's nothing I can do for you." He let her hair fall back and stepped back to lean against the sink, arms crossed as he watched her.

"I thought I had, everyone else had them all at once and... And he didn't have any rash or anything… Neal, I didn't even _notice_ a rash until now… I thought I just had a cold or a flu or something and I'm not allowed to go back to work till I got checked out…" She sighed and shook her head. "Well that's fun. Another week off work."

He smiled at her, eyes crinkling with mirth. "Go home and take a warm bath, love. Take a glass of wine and turn on Doctor Who on the Ipad and relax. I'll pick up some calamine lotion, dinner and some Phish Food on my way home. You'll be fine in no time, just remember not to itch." He lifted her folder off of the counter behind him and tucked it under his arm.

Thoroughly annoyed at this point, Kel silently cursed any Gods that could hear her. First she was sick, then she had to see Neal and now it was the chicken pox. Seriously? She shook her head and reached for her coat and purse, turning back to stare awkwardly at her husband who took a step forward to kiss her forehead.

"Only you would have chicken pox at 27, Kel." He said with a good natured grin, turning to open the door for her.


	2. Pink

A/N: This one is just a little drabble, enjoy.

Inspired by that one time in college. I swear to God, it happens once and no one will ever let you live it down.

* * *

She was sprawled out across the living room floor, placing pictures of rocks into categories as she studied for her geology test that was on Monday. It was the last required class she needed going into senior year and she was desperately trying not to fail it. It was by the skin of her teeth, but so far so good.

She was reaching out to place shale into its category when a pink shirt hit her square in the face.

Peeling it off she looked up and her roommate who stood in the hallway in just his scrub bottoms, glaring at her.

"What the hell, Queenscove?" She yelled, throwing it back at him.

"Can you _please _explain to me why my undershirts are all pink?" He demanded, still glaring, hands now on his hips, still looking royally pissed off. "Because I'm pretty damn sure they were white when I took one off last night and put the entire load of my work shirts in this morning." He stooped and picked it up, dangling it between two fingers. "Now they are _such_ a _beautiful_ shade of delicate blush pink."

The sarcasm dripping from his words was so thick she could have cut it with scissors.

She stared at him, craning her neck to see him. "Did you check the dryer when you put them in this morning?" She asked, keeping her voice calm and level, even though all she wanted to do was pick up all six odd feet of him and toss him out the window.

He was so damn dramatic.

Why the hell had she advertised for a roommate on Craigslist? She would never make that mistake again.

His eyes widened almost imperceptibly at her question and he turned around and stalked back to the little utilities closet opening the dryer and pulling everything out into the basket.

There it was. One very red sock.

One very red sock that wasn't owned by Kel.

He went to work with his face matching his undershirt and brought home chinese, ice cream and a bottle of Fireball after his shift to apologize for being an ass.

She very much enjoyed the scowl on his face when he opened his birthday present from her a week later.

White undershirts.

Their friends didn't understand why she laughed so hard.


	3. In Service

A/N: This one I'm not too sure about, but I wanted to post it anyway. I think I'm going to do a couple one sentence theme chapters as well. Those are always tough for me to do, so I'm looking forward to a challenge! Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think!

"Hey." It was the same greeting he gave her basically every time he got home, tossing his coat on the chair at the table and kicking his gross white sneakers off into the closet. She didn't looked up, still typing away at a report she was supposed to be giving next week.

"Hey." She replied, finishing up the page she was working on and shutting her laptop, setting it gently on the coffee table. "I saved you some pasta." She stood and twisted, working the kinks out of her back with a few soft pops before she began to put away all the paperwork stuff that she had spread everywhere in the living room.

Neal nodded and made his way into their bedroom to change.

When he didn't come back she followed him, finding him sitting on the edge of the bed, still in his scrubs, staring at his hands.

"Neal?" Kel asked, hovering in the doorway of the room.

It had been nearly a year since Graeme had been KIA and Kel knew it was tearing Neal apart. He didn't want to show how much he was hurting at the loss of his eldest brother, but Kel knew him better than she knew herself sometimes.

"Rough day?" She tried again when he didn't answer her, crossing the room in three quick strides to sit next to him. He looked up at her movement and reached out for her. She let him tug her down beside him, wrapping her arms firmly around his waist.

"I just keep thinking." He said, voice thick and rough as he spoke, his eyes focused on the engagement photo they kept on the end of the dresser. "I keep trying to make his sacrifice _worth _something and I can't." A tear dripped down his long nose and splashed onto her arm and she sighed inside.

It was tearing him up, piece by heartbroken piece and she didn't know how to put those pieces back together.

"I've decided to go for my commission." He said quietly after a few moments of silence, his fingers never once wavering from the gentle circles they made on her back.

She knew he felt her stiffen.

He leaned back and drew the back of his hand across his eyes. "I can't make his sacrifice worth anything but I can join up as an Army doctor and help patch other people up. I'm almost done with everything and I'll need to find a job anyway. Why not commission? I can do something good, they'll help repay my loans and someone else's older brother will make it home."

She didn't respond, but only because she didn't know what to say.

"My dad served before he got the job up at the hospital, and then Graeme enlisted and... Now that Graeme can't… And I've been thinking about it a lot and I talked to the Officer recruiter today…" His voice cracked and his arms tightened around her. "I'm going either way but it would be so much less stressful if you didn't hate me and I knew you were with me on this." His voice was all but a whisper and at first she thought she had dreamed it.

It was her turn to pull back and stare at him. "I could never hate you." She whispered, appalled that he would think that. "I just don't want anything to happen to you…" Her voice broke, and so did her heart. "Neal, I'm always with you. I promise."

There was silence as they continued to hold onto each other, Neal slowly rocking them back and forth.

Nothing more was said that night, and when Neal went in to sign the papers, Kel was right there with him.


	4. Parties

A/N: Alright well, here's one way that Kel and Neal might have met. Please excuse the bit of hating on Dom, they had to come together somehow! Also, this chapter takes place in college so there is alcohol use and a couple bad words in this chapter so be aware! Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Frat parties were literally the worst waste of his time ever and he didn't know why the hell he let Merric drag him to one. They didn't even have good alcohol, just lukewarm, cheap, tasteless beer. Taking a swig and making a face at the taste, he decided he should probably make the most out of this craptastic night.

He turned to the pretty brown haired girl leaning on the wall next to him and stuck his hand out, "I'm Neal. Neal Queenscove. I live in Naxen. That redheaded idiot over there about to get slapped by the little blonde because he's drunk out of his mind is my roommate." She would probably think he was weird as hell, but whatever.

Kel observed him through soft eyes before reaching out to shake his hand. "Kel Mindelan. I live in Provosts and that little blonde is my roommate and your friend is indeed about to get- Ah." She stopped and snorted into her cup, trying to hide her amused smile as Tian turned and stormed away from the redhead after smacking him soundly.

Neal didn't bother hiding his laugh. "So you're ROTC then? I'm assuming this from that expertly crafted military style bun and the fact that you're in Provosts. What year are you?" He took another swig, waving halfheartedly at one of the guys from pre-med that was across the room.

"Yep. I'm a junior and I'm Navy. I want to be a pilot." His eyebrows raised at that, their school had a great nursing program, which often ended up turning out a ton of military Nurses each year. While it wasn't exactly odd for a girl to be in a different program than nursing, it wasn't what he was used to hearing as a med student.

"Not a nurse?" He asked.

"Blood makes me squeamish." She admitted with a shrug. "Math and engineering might be cutthroat, but at least it's metaphorical blood." She pretended to take a drink from her still full cup and met his eyes with a smile. "Go big or go home, right?"

He grinned at that, nodding affirmative to her question. "Yep. I'm working towards being a heart surgeon." It was her turn to raise her eyebrows.

"But what do you _want _to be?" She asked, eyes far too perceptive.

This girl was sharp, he admitted to himself, rolling his cup between his hands. "A pediatrician." He muttered, a faint hint of red creeping up his neck. "I don't tell people that most of the time. My dad is a trauma surgeon so people expect me to do something great. My oldest brother is a surgeon and my second oldest is in his residency." He kept his voice light. He didn't know this girl, but he didn't mind the sympathetic ear. None of his roommates listened when he talked woes of the medical student.

She nodded along, eyes on the rowdy game of beer pong going on in the corner. "I can understand that, but there's no shame in doing something different than your parents did." She glanced up at him and smiled. "I think it's awesome. If you like kids, why the hell not? And who's to say you can't be a pediatric surgeon?" She asked, cheerful to the last, again pretending to drink her beer.

He shrugged noncommittally, draining the rest of the nasty beer and tossing the cup in the trash. When he looked around to Kel she was gone. Glancing around the room, confused, he shook his head.

"I'm behind you. Please, please, please don't move. Just stand there and be a human shield and I'll buy you a real drink as soon as we can escape." Her voice was suddenly weary and slightly annoyed and he wanted to turn and look at her but he didn't. 

"Why are you using me as a shield?" He asked her, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"My asshole ex just walked in and I'd rather not deal with him right now." She replied. "I see him enough for ROTC stuff as it is. No need to be miserable here too." She was still standing behind him. "See that girl in the red dress? The guy next to her, blue eyes and dark hair." She didn't know why she was pointing him out, but she liked Neal.

"Oh Mithros, you mean Dom?" He asked, a laugh in his voice. "That is indeed my asshole cousin."

She spun him around and stared at him. "Oh shit. You're _that _Neal?" She looked like she wanted to drop dead. "He talked about his annoying little cousin but I didn't know you went here."

He shrugged. "I didn't know the amazing Keladry went by Kel. I also wasn't aware you were ROTC so obviously neither of us got the full story." They both froze when Dom greeted them loudly from a dozen feet away and Neal glanced over at his cousin. "I'm gonna apologize in advance and ask you not to slap me." He muttered, loud enough for her ears only.

And before she could react, Neal was _kissing _her.

And she was kissing back.


	5. Fireball

A/N: Well… We are once again at Corus U, in the dorm shared by the boys. Warning for a bit of language and legal alcohol use. Enjoy!

The couch was only built for _maybe _four people, three if Cleon was included in the number sitting on its ratty, faded cushions. How they had managed to fit six people onto it for a Mario Kart competition, Kel didn't know and she really didn't want to find out. All she knew was that she was very tightly wedged between the dark and quite Roald and the boisterous and noisy Owen and she was kicking all their asses on Rainbow Road.

She had come over to find Neal and beg him to study with her or hang out with her or do something, anything, so she wasn't stuck in her room with her gross roommate and her roommate's equally gross boyfriend. Unbeknownst to her, Neal was in a TA session and his other 5 roommates were taking that time to play a very loud, very rowdy, half-drunk version of Mario Kart.

Not one to be a party pooper, and not willing to return to her room to listen to her roommate's bullshit, Kel accepted their invitation to join the marathon. She liked her best friend's roommates, so why the hell not? So, she packed herself onto the couch, selected Toad and began to play. And that's where Neal found her an hour later, his formerly full bottle of Fireball open and half empty in front of her and one of his Star Wars cups in her hand.

"This is cozy." He drawled, slinging his bag onto his desk and setting his Mac beside it, well out of the way of his now fully drunk friends. He surveyed the scene, taking in Cleon who was sprawled on the floor out cold, Owen who was upside down on the couch, racing as Peach, Merric and Seaver who were arguing (loudly) about Mario and Luigi, and Roald who was sipping his beer slowly, barely past not sober. "Um, Kel, why are you dinking my brand new bottle of Fireball?"

"'Cause it's the only not shitty alcohol in this dump you call a dorm." She slurred back, pouring herself another cup. "Want some?"

He eyed his friend again and shrugged, accepting the glass she offered him. When in Rome, right?

He threw it back and accepted a Wiimote from Roald. Time to kick some Mario Kart ass.


	6. Nicknames

AN: Uh well hey there.. Just stopping by to drop off a drabble I've been playing with for a few days while I avoid the realities of my life. Bear with me, folks, senior year of college starts next month and I'm hard at work on the end of junior year so I'll be slow and unreliably updating this whenever the fancy strikes. But, enough of that, please enjoy!

* * *

She didn't look up from her iPad as he slammed down his venti iced caramel blended coffee drink thing and took another sip of her green tea.

"Every single time I come to Starbucks they get my name wrong." He slouched into his chair and stared moodily at his drink, arms crossed as he pouted.

She spun the cup to see the damage this week. "Kneel." She said with a grin, spinning it back. "Hey at least this time it sounds like your name." She patted his hand affectionately and went back to scrolling thought her Ipad, reading the lecture notes from her History class, drawing patterns in the condensation pooled around the base of her drink.

He spluttered at this, shooting straight up in his seat. "At least it _sounds _like my name? Seriously Kel? Three days ago they wrote Nail. Last week they wrote Nil. Every day for a week it was Nel. Every single time I come here they can't spell my name. "

She rolled her eyes at him, watching as he sulkily took a mouthful of his drink. "Why do you still come here then?" she asked, once again reading her notes.

"Because I just really love overpriced coffee." He told her, arms crossed.

Her eyebrows lifted as they made eye contact. "She does it on purpose. Kally's in one of my classes. She said she thinks it's funny to watch you freak out every time she spells your name wrong. I just laughed and told her to keep up the good work." She went back to her notes, face perfectly composed.

He choked on the sip he was taking from his drink and stared open-mouthed at his best friend.

"Close your mouth, it's not attractive." She didn't look up, but the corner of her mouth quirked up in a smile as Neal snapped his mouth closed.


End file.
